The Sacramento Kings are playing through another rough season. With a 17-30 record, and 13th place standing in the West, they are headed on the fast track to nowhere this campaign.
As a result, several of their players have emerged in trade talks including Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Nemanja Bjelica. In fact, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, they have already received an offer from the Lakers involving Kyle Kuzma for Bogdan, Bjelica, and a pick.
Sacramento doesn’t need to trade Bogdanovic, and it has declined some offers already. The Kings offered Nemanja Bjelica and a pick to the Lakers for Kyle Kuzma, and Los Angeles countered by asking for Bogdanovic, according to multiple league sources. Sacramento refused. But Bogdanovic will be a restricted free agent this summer and any offer sheet in the $15 million to $25 million range annually would be problematic for the Kings to match.
Hield and Harrison Barnes just got paid, and De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III are due new contracts in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Unless the Kings decide it’s in their best interest to commit roughly $75 million to Fox, Hield, and Bogdanovic starting in 2021, trading one of Hield or Bogdanovic for a larger wing or a big man would make sense.
It seems the price is high for Bogdanovic — and it should be. Averaging 14 points as a 27-year-old stretch big man, he is a player most teams would kill to have to play for them.
But with a serious pay-day on the horizon for him, the Kings will have to decide just how much he is worth.
